My dad used to tell me the stories of the old days, when the students led movements against the dictators of their time.
Stories of the Thammasat University massacre of October 6th, Black May, and my favorite, his involvement as a student protester in the October 14th popular uprising. He’d always set the scene to talk about the tyrannical government who did what they wanted without care for the rights of its citizens—taking time, of course, to explain to me what rights were and how no one could take them away from me.
Military dictators. Arrests. Extrajudicial killings. These went on until the student protesters banded together and used their voice to fight against these injustices. He would recount that from their individual schools, they gathered to peacefully march together to express their discontent.
I always held my breath at this part. Shots fired! “The soldiers are killing the people!” he remembered the other students exclaimed. My heart would race as my dad told me the story about how he jumped straight into the Chao Phraya River to safety on the Thonburi side. I’d take a deep breath knowing he was safe. Then he’d tuck me in and say, “I hope you never live through this. Sweet dreams, buddy.”
Unfortunately, I’m living through this now, as are all of us.
We are seeing the same story being played back to us again.
In the past few years, Thailand has faced yet another coup d’état, and yet another military dictatorship. During those four years, the military dictators were too busy consolidating power to listen to the concerns that we had as citizens. They colluded with the upper class to help each other amass obscene amounts of wealth, while gutting funds from much needed public resources, like education and healthcare. The 1% prospered at the expense of the average citizen.
This military junta also rewrote the constitution to introduce laws that would allow it to remain in power for the following years. It could possibly retain its control of the government for perpetuity through the 250 senators, hand-picked by the army.
At the same time, the junta-turned government engaged in aggressive campaigns to silence citizens who dared to raise our voices. Those who express differing opinions are branded as people who despise their country (ชังชาติ). Additionally, student leaders who led the first wave of protests and those who openly criticize the government are being arrested. It seems as if the only citizens that matter are the rich and those who have not spoken out against the junta.
The situation has gotten to a point where citizens have to literally beg the government not to harm us (one of the 3 points of the current protest is หยุดคุกคามประชาชน). In what society do citizens have to ask for this? And more importantly, in what society does a government grossly ignore this anyway (as evidenced by the continued arrests, abuses, and other scare tactics)?
However, this is not a time of despair. While this cycle of coup d’états and military juntas seem to be repeating itself again, we have seen that dictators will fall, and the citizens will remain.
It is not a test of the government, but rather, a test of our resilience. How can we use this situation to build a more just and more equitable society? The first step we can all take is to use the power and rights that we have as citizens to make sure that the government hears our voices. It is time to stay engaged with the current events; to educate our families and friends in our circle both domestic and abroad; to support the protesters and leaders, all of whom are putting themselves in the front lines of the movement; to take to the streets; and most importantly, to hold this government accountable for its actions.
It is not time for us to back down. It is time to take whatever action needed to take the movement forward. It is time for us to embrace our parents’ wildest dreams and see an end to this cycle of coup d’états, dictators, and military juntas ends.
Remember that we are not fighting alone. In addition to everyone in our generation, we have the knowledge of our parents and elders who have faced this adversity before us. We can learn from them and their movement as we build our own. We should also look to the other successful student movements in Southeast Asia and learn from their triumphs, trials, and tribulations.
Like how my dad told me the stories of his time, this fight might be the one that we tell our future children and grandchildren about.
So, thank you, Dad, for everything. We’ll take it from here.
